UFC 251: Jorge Masvidal loses unanimous decision to Kamaru Usman in Fight Island snoozer
- Masvidal banks an impressive opening round but Usman imposes his will on the Abu Dhabi main event
- ‘He’s always game to fight. But I’m just a level better. I have more tools in the toolbox,’ says welterweight champ
It was a long road to a title shot for Jorge Masvidal. His 49th professional fight, and 19th UFC appearance to be precise. Derided as a “journeyman” by some – including Kamaru Usman – he couldn’t find the knockout magic that had brought him to the brink of a fairy tale title win at UFC 251 in Abu Dhabi.
Masvidal was announced during the broadcast as the cover star of the new UFC 4 video game, but welterweight champion Usman (17-1) spoiled the party and stretched his win streak in the UFC to 12 fights (16 overall), tying the legendary Georges St-Pierre in the division, with a dominant unanimous decision on Fight Island in Sunday’s main event.
The 35-year-old Masvidal, who took the fight on short notice, flying across the world and cutting 20 pounds in six days, did everything he could to find the knockout but “The Nigerian Nightmare” simply didn’t let him, and controlled the fight in the clinch and on the ground. Two scorecards of 50-45, and one of 49-46, told the story, as did the stats – Usman threw a total of 263 strikes to Masvidal’s 88, with over 10 minutes of clinch control time.
“‘Gamebred’ is one of the biggest, baddest dudes out there,” Usman told Jon Anik in his post-fight interview. “I had to switch gears, to prepare for him on six days’ notice.
“A lot was made of it, but all these guys are preparing for one guy, that’s me at the top of the mountain. I trained for Gilbert Burns, had a completely different game plan. ‘Gamebred’ is tough and he showed it out there. He took a lot of big elbows down there on the bottom, but kept fighting and didn’t quit.”